France's satirical weekly magazine Charlie Hebdo went ahead with its publication of a cartoon depicting Islam's Prophet Mohamed, after its offices were firebombed this week over the cartoons. It was distributed in a special suppplement within copies of the left-wing daily Liberation on Thursday, one day after its offices were attacked in Paris. The magazine defended its publication by saying it had the right to push “the freedom to poke fun” upon issuing the four-page supplement. The magazine said the issue was “honoring” the Arab spring and the celebrating the Islamic victory in the Tunsiain elections recently. The issue will also be full of satiric articles mocking Arab revolutionists. The main slogan of the issue is “100 lashes if you don't die of laughter.” “In order, fittingly to celebrate the Islamist Ennahda's win in Tunisia and the NTC [National Transitional Council] president's promise that Sharia would be the main source of law in Libya, Charlie Hebdo asked Mohamed to be guest editor,” said a statement from the magazine. The magazine, which changed its title for the issue to “Sharia Hebdo,” will feature an editorial “by the Prophet” about Halal drinks and a section for women called “Sharia madame.” The same publication was taken to a Paris court in 2007 by Islamic organizations, who charged it with insulting Islam and publishing offensive pictures of the Prophet. The Paris court threw out a lawsuit brought by two Muslim organizations against Charlie Hebdo for reprinting cartoons of Prophet Mohamed that had appeared in a Danish newspaper, sparking angry protests by Muslims worldwide. ** Manar Ammar contributed to this report. BM
